441—153.13 (232) Role and responsibilities of decategorization project governance boards. The governance board of a decategorization project shall have the following authority and responsibilities:
	 153.13(1) Rules of operation. The governance board shall establish and adopt written rules of operation that are available to the public.
	 153.13(2) Open meetings and records. The governance board shall adhere to statutory requirements for government bodies concerning open meetings and open records procedures as specified in Iowa Code chapters 21 and 22.
	 153.13(3) Coordination. The governance board shall coordinate project planning, decategorization service decisions, and budget planning activities with the service area manager and the chief juvenile court officer for the county or counties comprising the project.
	 153.13(4) Right to services. The governance board shall implement the decategorization initiative in a manner that does not limit the legal rights of children and families to receive services.
	 153.13(5) Community service planning. The governance board shall undertake community planning activities within the county or counties comprising the project. These activities shall be designed to develop services that are more preventive, family-centered, and community-based.
	  a.   	 As part of decategorization community planning, the governance board shall partner with other community stakeholders to develop service alternatives that provide less restrictive levels of care for children and families within the project area. The governance board shall involve community representatives, including representatives for families and youth and for county organizations, in the development of specific and quantifiable short-term and long-term plans for:
	 (1) 	 Enhancing preventive, family-centered, and community-based services; and
	 (2) 	 Reducing reliance on out-of-community care and restrictive interventions.
	  b.   	 In community planning, the governance board may use information from federal reviews of Iowa’s child welfare system and indicators and outcomes from other community planning efforts. The governance board shall coordinate its community planning efforts as much as possible with those of other planning entities in the community, such as but not limited to:
	 (1) 	 Communities of promise;
	 (2) 	 Community empowerment;
	 (3) 	 United Way;
	 (4) 	 Community partnerships for protecting children;
	 (5) 	 Comprehensive school improvement planning;
	 (6) 	 Comprehensive substance abuse agency planning; and
	 (7) 	 Substance-abuse-free environment (SAFE) program planning.
	 153.13(6) Annual service plan. The governance board shall oversee the development and submission of an annual child welfare and juvenile justice services plan that meets the requirements of rule 441—153.18(232). The governance board shall involve community representatives and county organizations in the development of the plan for the use of the decategorization services funding pool.
	 153.13(7) Fiscal management. The governance board shall manage and have authority over the project’s decategorization services funding pool.
	  a.   	 The governance board shall develop a plan to maintain budget accountability by ensuring during each state fiscal year that there is ongoing accountability for results, fiscal monitoring, and oversight of expenditures from the decategorization services funding pool.
	  b.   	 Budget planning and decategorization services funding decisions shall be coordinated with the affected service area managers and chief juvenile court officers or their designees throughout each state fiscal year.
	  c.   	 The governance board shall ensure that expenditures do not exceed the amount of funding available within the funding pool.
	  d.   	 If necessary, the governance board shall approve actions to reduce expenditures, discontinue programs, or take other action to manage expenditures within the available decategorization services funding pool during each state fiscal year.
	 153.13(8) Annual report. The governance board shall oversee the development and submission of an annual progress report for the decategorization project that meets the requirements of rule 441—153.19(232).